External package, article, product, or palletized load corner or edge protectors, corner post supports, and the like, are of course well-known in the packaging, shipping, and transportation industries, and are accordingly widely used in connection with the packaging, shipping, and transportation of various packages, articles, products, palletized loads, and the like, wherein it is particularly desirable to protect the external corner or edge portions or regions of the packages, articles, products, palletized loads, or the like, during transit. Typical or conventional external corner or edge protectors, which may be used upon various packages, articles, palletized loads, products, and the like, are disclosed, for example, within U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,800 which was issued to Goshorn et al. on Jul. 6, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,236 which was issued to Cowan et al. on Jan. 31, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,611 which was issued to Liebel on Jan. 26, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,673 which was issued to Eckel et al. on Oct. 31, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,916 which was issued to Galea on May 10, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,449 which was issued to Bendt on May 13, 1980. As can readily be seen from, for example, the aforenoted patents to Goshorn et al., Cowan et al., Liebel, Eckel et al., and Bendt, after the external corner or edge protectors have been conventionally applied to, or mounted upon, the external corner or edge portions of a particular palletized load, package, article, product, or the like, the external corner or edge protectors are subsequently secured upon the package, article, product, palletized load, or the like, by means of suitable package strapping, lashing, stretch film, ropes, bands, or the like. It can therefore be appreciated that, in order to preserve the structural integrity of the strapped or banded package, article, product, palletized load, or the like, it is imperative that the structural integrity of the external corner or edge protector is itself preserved in connection with, for example, flexural or bending forces which are oriented or impressed upon the external corner or edge protectors in directions substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, or longitudinal extent, of the external corner or edge protectors by means of the aforenoted strapping, lashing, ropes, stretch film, bands, or the like. If this was not the case, that is, if the structural integrity of the external corner or edge protectors was not in fact preserved, and was in fact compromised, then obviously, the utility or usefulness of the external corner or edge protectors, with respect to the protection of the external corner or edge portions of the packages, articles, products, palletized loads, or the like, would likewise be compromised.
Continuing further, various factors influence or determine the flexural properties, or flexural strength or resistance values, characteristic of an external corner or edge protector. For example, one critically important factor which influences or determines the flexural properties, or flexural strength or resistance values, characteristic of an external corner or edge protector, comprises the material from which the external corner or edge protector is fabricated, and in addition, whether or not such external corner or edge protector has a solid or substantially hollow structure. For example, as can be appreciated from the aforenoted patent which was issued to Liebel, the corner post disclosed within such patent is fabricated from laminated paperboard, and in addition, the corner post has a paperboard spine, which substantially comprises a hollow structure formed by folding end portions thereof back upon themselves, secured to the external surface of the corner post per se. In view of the fact that the corner post and spine components are fabricated from paperboard, their flexural resistance properties would probably not be as high as may be expected if the corner post and spine components were fabricated from other more rigidified materials, and in addition, if such structural components were exposed to moist conditions, which may develop or prevail within different cargo holds, or as a result of having particular products disposed internally within the packages, palletized loads, or the like, the structural integrity of the corner post and spine components could be jeopardized.
Still further, the fact that external corner or edge protectors may be fabricated from other materials may likewise provide such external corner or edge protectors with desirable shock absorption or cushioning properties, but, again, they may not provide such external corner or edge protectors with the desired flexural resistance properties. It is seen, for example, that the external corner or edge protectors of Galea are fabricated from molded fiber or pulp material, while the external corner or edge protector of Cowan et al. is fabricated from a combination of a soft thermoplastic material, such as, for example, low density polyethylene, for its cylindrical members, and a rigid thermoplastic material, such as, for example, high density polypropylene, for its connecting web members. As can therefore be readily appreciated, not only is the particular type of material, from which the external corner or edge protector structural components are fabricated, critically important in connection with the various structural and lifetime service qualities exhibited by the external corner or edge protectors, but in addition, the amount and weight of the material required to fabricate such external corner or edge protector structural components is also a critically important factor to be considered from a manufacturing cost-effective or economically viable point of view. It would therefore be desirable to fabricate an external corner or edge protector which could not only exhibit, for example, flexural strength or bending resistance qualities which would be comparable to those of conventional external corner or edge protectors, but in addition, could effectively be fabricated with a predeterminedly reduced amount of material or weight, or alternatively, it would be desirable to fabricate an external corner or edge protector which, for a predetermined amount of material and weight, could exhibit flexural strength or resistance properties which would exceed those of conventional external corner or edge protectors.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved external corner or edge protector, for protecting the external corner or edge region of a package, article, product, palletized load, and the like, wherein the amount of material that is required in connection with the manufacture or fabrication of such an external corner or edge protector could be substantially reduced as compared to conventional external corner or edge protectors, but still further, the external corner or edge protector would be provided with unique and novel structure which would not only serve to protect the external corner or edge region of the package, article, product, palletized load, and the like, but in addition, could achieve levels of structural integrity and flexural strength or bending resistance which would be comparable to those of conventional external corner or edge protectors, or alternatively, wherein the amount of material that is required in connection with the manufacture or fabrication of such an external corner or edge protector would be substantially the same as that of conventional external corner or edge protectors, however, the unique and novel structure of the external corner or edge protector would enable enhanced levels of structural integrity and flexural strength or bending resistance to be achieved.